Road Trip Stop #4: Portland, OR… I mean, Estacada, OR

This was our shortest stay. We spent 2 days and 2 nights at the Milo McIver State Park.

This was another state park we came to so Jacob could play disc golf. It’s only about 40 minutes from Portland, so I couldn’t complain. The property itself wasn’t my favorite. It was very much a campground (so no real hikes), it didn’t have full hook ups (so we had to be extra careful about our grey and black water), it was “fake” secluded (you can fully see into the next person’s area but there’s ~trees~ slightly blocking the view), and the pavement was beeeeat up. Since we only stayed there 2 nights, it wasn’t that bad and it didn’t rain! While at our site, I mostly spent my whole time inside the trailer, working, reading, writing, whatever. The bathrooms were very nice and clean though – always a plus.

What we DID do while in this location was visit Portland. I’ve been to Portland once, for a conference in late 2019. I’ve driven through Portland a lot since I’ve driven to and from Seattle a handful of times (fun fact: I lived in Seattle for a year after college). But before that conference, I never spent any time in Portland. Which was a bummer because do you guys know about Powell’s City of Books? I remember hearing about it when I lived in Seattle and kind of brushing it off as a “Eh, how cool can it be?”. LET ME TELL YOU. It’s the coolest. There’s over 1 million books there (used and new). I could probably have spent an entire day there. The first time I went there (during the conference), I was on a time crunch due to having to catch my flight home so I sped through and bought 1 book. This time, I took some time… and walked out with 7 books, 3 postcards, 1 tarot deck, and 1 sticker. I have zero chill. My only saving grace is that the cashier said I had excellent taste in books. Thank you, kind soul.

We also visited Pine State Biscuits. Jacob had been to a location in Reno, NV but I had only heard about this place. From everyone. This place has been hyped up so much, I was starting to get scared… But there was ZERO reason to be scared because it is phenomenal and worth every single bit of hype around it. One staff member even brought up a slice of bacon for Sidney, because she was such a good pups. 10/10

In my forever search of places Sidney is allowed at, I found the International Rose Test Garden. Which… will probably be insanely beautiful in about a month. It was still beautiful and a great place to walk around (plus, bathrooms!). It was such an amazingly nice day that I was seriously regretting my long sleeved shirt as I dripped sweat (WHO KNEW??).

This stop felt like a layover spot. But that’s okay. I think my nonchalance is also fueled by the fact that I was reading a book I ended up having to put down because I actually hated it so much. I typically will power through books that I don’t care too much for, to see if it gets better but it was impossible in this case. I think I’ve only not finished maybe 5 books in my entire life. (It is the Liz Phair autobiography, if you would like to avoid it too). I’m ready to head out of Oregon and up to Washington!

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Stay tuned